The role of Societal Pessimism in Childfree Rationales: Quantitative and Qualitative insights from the Netherlands

Nola Cammu , Tilburg University
Katya Ivanova, Tilburg University
Mirthe Megens, Tilburg University

Demographic shifts resulting from low fertility rates pose a key challenge to modern societies. Attempts to classify childfree motivations have highlighted various themes, including “societal pessimism”; the feeling that the world is not developing in a positive direction. Although it is widely documented that most childfree adults ‘just don’t want children’ as their main motive, environmental concerns are being mentioned with growing frequency. Recent empirical work has linked concerns about global warming with how (young) people reason about parenthood. In a European context, there is some evidence that broad societal pessimism and environmental concerns play a role in fertility behavior and/or intentions. This study investigates the role of ‘societal pessimism’ in childfree rationales of Dutch adults. Following an ‘explanatory mixed methods’ approach, we base our analysis on descriptive quantitative childfree rationales from the Dutch longitudinal LISS panel in tandem with 38 in-depth interviews with voluntary childless men and women of prime reproductive age (25-45), recruited via the LISS panel. Our results indicate that childfree rationales are highly personal and diverse, much more so than predefined surveys can capture. The most apparent motivations were a desire for flexibility and freedom, followed by a sense of being ‘unfit’ for parenthood, and a lack of desire to become a parent. Although societal pessimistic reasons played an additional role, these concerns were secondary or tertiary reflections rather than core motivations. Hence, personal motivations and circumstances appear the main driver in fertility decision-making, with societal and environmental reasons cited primarily to reinforce existing personal rationales.

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 Presented in Session 54. Flash Session Fertility, Values and Life Goals